Firefighter who died a hero to get a headstone after 60 years

Chicago woman whose mother was pregnant with her at time of fire sought marker

June 23, 2012|By Ryan Haggerty, Chicago Tribune reporter

Debbie McCann, of Chicago, and her friend John Stewart, a field worker at All Saints Catholic Cemetery & Mausoleum, look at the newly placed headstone for Chicago firefighter John Francis Minich at the Des Plaines cemetery. Minich collapsed and died Oct. 25, 1952, after rescuing McCann’s mother from an apartment fire. Her mother was pregnant with McCann at the time. (Alex Garcia, Chicago Tribune)

Chicago firefighter John Francis Minich died a hero, collapsing just moments after rescuing several people from a burning apartment building in 1952.

But for nearly six decades, Minich's body has lain in an unmarked grave in a Des Plaines cemetery, an anonymous resting place among rows of headstones chiseled with names.

That will change Saturday morning, when officials from the Chicago Fire Department and the firefighters union dedicate a headstone marking Minich's grave at All Saints Catholic Cemetery & Mausoleum.

Also in attendance will be a woman whose lifetime of questions about the firefighter who saved her life led to the recognition of his resting place.

"I'm just so happy that this moment is happening," said Debbie McCann, 59, of Chicago's Edgewater neighborhood. "It's almost surreal."

McCann's mother talked often of the fire.

Her mother was eight months pregnant with McCann when the smoky blaze began to spread Oct. 25, 1952, through their apartment building in the 1000 block of West Argyle Street.

Trapped on the third floor, McCann's mother ignored firefighters shouting at her to jump because she didn't want to harm her unborn child, McCann said.

Minich already had rescued other residents when he went back into the building to find the trapped woman. He put a wet cloth over McCann's mother's mouth and nose and led her through the blinding smoke, according to McCann and a Tribune article about the fire published the next day.

Minich tried to keep McCann's mother calm as they made their way through the building, asking her what name she planned to give her baby, McCann said. He even promised to visit her and the newborn once the child was born.

Minich, who was in his mid-40s, was taken to a nearby hospital, where he died of smoke inhalation and heat exhaustion, the Tribune article reported.

A death notice in the newspaper said Minich was survived by his wife, Marie, and two brothers. A 29-year-old man was later charged with setting the fire after he became upset with his girlfriend, who lived in the building, according to several Tribune stories.

Twelve days after the fire, McCann was born. She had always been intrigued by the story of her mother's rescue and last year began searching for Minich's grave.

She asked a friend who works at All Saints, John Stewart, to help her find where Minich was buried. Stewart discovered that Minich and his wife were in unmarked graves.

McCann first visited Minich's grave on a snowy day in January, and the sight of the nondescript plot left her shaken, she said.

"It really troubled me," McCann said. "I looked at this entire row, and I thought, 'Oh my God, he's a hero. He saved my life. I'm here because of him. And he doesn't have a marker.'"

McCann told Stewart that she would buy a headstone for Minich. But Stewart told her to wait, and he talked to a neighbor who is a Fire Department captain. The department contacted the firefighters union a short time later, and Mount Emblem Cemetery in Elmhurst soon agreed to donate a black granite headstone. McCann said she also plans to secure a headstone for Minich's wife.

The new marker for Minich includes a Fire Department logo and refers to him as a hero who died in the line of duty, something that Tom Ryan, president of Chicago Firefighters Union Local 2, said is a fitting tribute.

"Somebody who gives his life in service of others needs to be remembered," he said.